Asked if he follows today's black metal scene and what his opinion is on it, Ihsahn said: “I don't really follow anything. [Laughs] I guess that was my problem, even at the start. I must admit that it was always my colleague Samoth [guitar] from Emperor who had the big network and connections and everything. And I've been kind of tagging along and focusing on doing the music and writing lyrics and all that.
It's kind of paradox. I mean, this whole black metal scene, with all these rules and kind of fashion police [laughs] coming out from this very individualistic and free-thought type of philosophy. So, for me, I think, in my own mind, what I do now musically is still black metal. For me, it comes from the same source. So, to me, black metal is not a type of guitar sound played at this or this speed with screeching vocals. For me, black metal is an attitude and an atmosphere. For me, Diamanda Galás' Plague Mass is just as black metal as any Bathory album.”
Ihsahn is going to release his sixth solo album Arktis on April 8 and he is already streaming a few songs from it; here are two songs “Pressure” and “Mass Darkness”.
Tracklist:
1. Disassembled
2. Mass Darkness
3. My Heart Is of the North
4. South Winds
5. In the Vaul
6. Until I Too Dissolve
7. Pressure
8. Frail
9. Crooked Red Line
10. Celestial Violence
11. Til Tor Ulven (Søppelsolen)